Meltdown in the Park
by LGCoffeeAddict
Summary: A revised and abbreviated version of my first ever fic, The Incredible Rising Lorelai. Set during The Incredible Sinking Lorelais bench scene, this is my version of how Luke and Lorelai get together and a while after.
1. Chapter 1

**Meltdown in the Park**

A **Gilmore Girls** fic by Gigi

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Chapter 1: Failing

**A/N: Hello! I was looking through my list of fics and noticed that I had never finished The Incredible Rising Lorelai, which was my first fic ever. I decided that, so many years later, I would revise it and abbreviate it. This is that revision, and I know exactly where I'm going with this, so rest assured that this fic **_**will **_**actually be completed. Remember that Lorelai and Jason are not together in this story. Enjoy!**

Lorelai Gilmore hobbled over to Luke's truck, her feet in pain and her confidence shattered, and smiled weakly to herself. _He's wearing the clothes I bought him, _she thought to herself. _He looks nice in them._

"Hey, Luke," she stammered when she finally reached his truck. In her emotionally distressed state, all she was able to focus on were his clothes. She bought them for him a long time ago, three years ago, to be exact. She distinctly remembered how shocked his then-girlfriend Rachel had looked when she walked in on Lorelai dressing him. _Judging by her reaction, you would have thought I was making out with him or something._ Lorelai mentally slapped herself. _Lorelai Victoria Gilmore, you can_not_ be thinking of kissing Luke!_

"Lorelai, are you okay?" Luke peered into the brunette's face worriedly, snapping her out of her daze. For the first time, she couldn't seem to string together any coherent thoughts when he looked at her like that. She settled for a nod while she mentally berated herself for being so pathetically dumb. "Do you want to sit down?" Lorelai lifted her eyes from tracing his lips to gazing into his deep blue eyes, noticing the concern that floated around in them.

_No, that can't be it_, she denied to herself. _He's _married_, Lorelai. Remember that._

"Lorelai, can you speak?"

She nodded vehemently, despite the fact that it was an outright lie. _Obviously_, she was having trouble talking, but tell Luke that, and he'd think the world was ending. "Luke, I—" Lorelai started and stopped, cut off when she looked into his eyes again. "I…" _Okay, Lorelai, try again. _"There aren't very many times when I find myself thinking, 'I wish I was married.'" Judging from Luke's face and her own humiliation, neither of them expected the conversation to go in that direction, but now that Lorelai had began, it was hard to stop the words pouring out of her mouth. "But sometimes I just wish I had someone to, you know, pick up the slack."

Lorelai realized by this point that she was just babbling, but Luke simply gazed at her with those blue eyes, full of understanding. He was used to her tendency to incessant talking, something that still confounded Lorelai after all these years.

Before she even realized what was happening, she had broken down. She buried her head in Luke's chest and allowed him to wrap an arm around her in comfort while she sobbed her heart out. She'd lost all control of her normal faculties, and she found herself blubbering, "I was going to ask you for 30,000 dollars at dinner tonight…"

Lorelai thought she couldn't feel worse that night, but when she heard herself cry and literally _beg_ her best friend for money, she hit a new low.

_Real smooth, Lorelai._

**A/N: I wrote **_**really**_** short chapters when I was just starting out! This is so short! Well, hopefully it's enough of a teaser to get some people interested. Review, please!**


	2. Best Friend

**Meltdown in the Park**

A **Gilmore Girls** fic by Gigi

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Chapter 2: Best Friend

**A/N: Don't you love how I wrote a nub of a chapter and then left you to hang for five months? I'm mean. I know that, and I'm sorry. Here's hoping you'll still read it!**

After having successfully drenched Luke's shirt, Lorelai straightened and tried in vain to compose herself. She kept surreptitiously wiping the mascara stains on her cheeks while avoiding any sort of eye contact with the man whose hand still clutched her shoulder.

He _was_ still holding her shoulder. It was oddly comforting for Lorelai to feel the weight of his burly hand sitting on her shoulder; it made the muscle underneath relax just a little bit. But it was more than that. As she continued to clean herself up as much as possible, she realized she felt safe with his hand there.

A small voice in the back of her head nagged at her, saying she shouldn't be feeling that way, that if she took it any farther, she would be playing with fire, but she couldn't help it. It was Luke, after all, as in Luke Danes: diner owner and Lorelai's chief coffee supplier.

"Thanks, Luke," Lorelai whispered while still battling that stupid nagging voice in the back of her head. "I didn't mean to lay all that on you. I don't know how you put up with me, honestly. I mean, I babble, and I blubber, and I soak through your shirt…" Great, she was babbling again.

"Shh… I get it," Luke replied simply. His voice, soft and soothing as it was, tugged Lorelai's head around, and she just looked at him. She stared at him for a few seconds, completely lost. How the hell could he get it? She kept thinking that, going around in circles in her mind. He was married; she wasn't. Suddenly, that horrible despair of the I-wish-I-was-married strain arose in her once again like a huge tidal wave building up higher and higher, leaving the people on the beach in panicked suspense, waiting for the crash to come and too paralyzed to move.

"How can you _get it_?" she demanded before she fully registered what she was saying—or even _how_ she was saying it. She wanted to smack herself for saying those five words with such disdain and condescension. She was _never_ disdainful or condescending towards Luke. For God's sake, he was her best friend! "Oh, God, Luke, I am _so_ sorry." Luke tried to wipe the hurt off his face in time to shake his head at her apology. "I can be such a jerk. I just need to learn to keep my mouth shut. That might be kind of hard, but…" Babbling again.

Luke stopped moving once Lorelai's words started pouring out of her mouth again. Then he stopped her in the middle of what was bound to be yet another self-deprecating sentence simply by placing a finger on her mouth. Once Lorelai was subdued, her bright blue eyes sparkled in the dark with unshed tears as she frantically searched his face for any indication that he was about to do what she thought—and maybe hoped a little bit—he was going to do.

Slowly but surely, Luke let his hand trail down from her lips to her chin. Lorelai couldn't help but notice how pretty his eyes were, like a stormy ocean blue—

"Stop that," Lorelai told herself. The hand on her chin froze, and she realized she had spoken aloud. "Oh, God, not you, sorry. I was talking to myself, and I swear, if you say any of that crap about talking to yourself being the first sign of insanity, I will slap you."

A deep, throaty chuckle escaped Luke's throat as he inched closer and closer. His eyes were full of… some sort of emotion. It was a familiar gaze to Lorelai, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it.

Before she had anymore time to mull over that look in Luke's eyes, his lips were on hers. It took virtually no time at all for Lorelai to give up and let her eyes slide shut. She draped her arms lazily around Luke's neck, softly stroking the side of his neck with one of her hands. When she felt his tongue running along her bottom lip, she opened her mouth without further thought—until she realized they're on a bench in the center of town.

"Luke," she gasped, breaking the string of kisses just for a moment. She only got a soft, "Hmm?" in response, as Luke had started in on her jaw bone. "Luke," she repeated. This time she pulled away so she could get his attention. "We're in the middle of the Town Square and making out. Taylor lives within sight of us, and so does Miss Patty."

The words take a few seconds to get through to Luke, who sat there incredulously, as if he couldn't believe he and Lorelai had just kissed. He wasn't alone; Lorelai was having a difficult time grasping that concept, as well. Abruptly, he stood up and grabbed her hand. "Come with me," he said, pulling her up and leading her to the diner.

**A/N: What do you think? It's actually longer than the original second chapter, albeit not by much. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it, and I **_**really**_** hope you'll take the time to REVIEW!**


	3. Just Peachy

**Meltdown in the Park**

A **Gilmore Girls** fic by Gigi

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Chapter 3: Just Peachy

**A/N: Once again, I'm so sorry for taking so long to get this out. I have literally about twenty multi-chaps going on at the moment so it takes a while to hit them all. Enjoy!**

As soon as the door to Luke's apartment above the diner closed behind them, Luke spun around and cupped Lorelai's face in his hands. An unsure smile rested on his scruffy face, and his blue eyes sparkled with questions, namely asking her if she was absolutely sure about what they were doing. In answer, Lorelai leaned her head forward and met his lips in a gentle kiss.

Relief passed through the diner owner at the kiss, but he kept it soft and sweet enough that when he pulled away, Lorelai was smiling coyly. "Now, now, that won't do," she whispered before grabbing his collar and pulling him down to kiss him again much more fervently than before. His hands found purchase on her waist as he backed the brunette into the door. "Ouch!"

"What's wrong? Are you okay?" Luke asked, a little out of breath. His hands refused to move from her waist. If anything, his grip tightened as if he were afraid she would disappear if he let go.

Lorelai simply moved slightly to the left to keep the doorknob from digging into her back and laughed. "I'm just peachy." With those three words, her lips were on his once more, and he pushed her farther into the door, sliding her up inch by inch until she had to bend her neck to keep their lips touching. A frustrated murmur sounded from Lorelai's throat when her hands' exploration of Luke's back were interrupted by his annoying leather jacket. _Why did he even buy that stupid thing anyway?_ she thought to herself indignantly. _Oh, right. I bought it for him_.

Luke pulled back from the kiss at her groan, staring at her. Words wouldn't form on her tongue, so she tapped on his jacket and kissed him again, slipping it off his shoulders. His hands shot right back up as soon as they were free, one returning to her waist and the other caressing the skin of her neck.

After a few more seconds, Luke detached his lips from Lorelai's before trailing kiss down her neck and collarbone. He heard her breath hitch and he reluctantly ceased his ministrations in order to look her in the eye. "Are you absolutely sure about this?"

Her only answer was, once again, by kissing him deeply. After that, Luke showed absolutely no hesitation in reaching for the zipper of her dress, eliciting a small giggle from the inn owner. "Luke!" she exclaimed with a mock-scandalized expression painted on her face. A tiny scowl alighted on his, and Lorelai heard something resembling, "Shut up," leave his mouth just before his lips found hers once more.

**A/N: Once again, pretty short. I'm positive the chapters get longer eventually, so just enjoy these little drabbles until I can actually reach those chapters! I'll bet you're glad I now have a 1,000-word minimum for my updates now. Anyway, please review!**


	4. Tongue-Tied

**Meltdown in the Park**

A **Gilmore Girls** fic by Gigi

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Chapter 4: Tongue-Tied

**A/N: So I've just moved into my own place, and I don't have internet yet. So I curled up with my laptop, a glass of wine…and Raincoats & Recipes. It all just came rushing back, how much Lorelai and Luke were just my favorite couple ever. So I decided to update this since I don't really have much else I can do without internet!**

Sunlight streamed through the window and—quite rudely—bathed her face in its glow. Unable to ignore the heat on her face, Lorelai squeezed her eyes shut and rolled over so that her back was to the window. Her blankets were rough against her cheek, and she slowly blinked her eyes open at the sensation. Brown plaid sheets rested, rumpled in front of her, possibly the ugliest sheets she'd ever seen. Her sleepy mind tried in vain to remember why on Earth she would buy those bed sheets until a small note on the other pillow caught her attention.

Grabbing at the note with a heavy arm, she was vaguely aware that she was naked under the sheet; but no one would be in her room this early.

_You were asleep when I woke up for work. I'll bring your breakfast. Don't wanna give the town a heart attack._

_Luke._

And then she remembered.

_That_ was why she was naked.

She'd begged Luke for money, and then she slept with him.

"Way to go, Lorelai," she groaned into her pillow. Not that she wasn't happy with this new development…but it was _Luke_. _Her_ Luke. Her best friend Luke. Dependable, rant-prone Luke. And…he was wonderful to her.

She sagged onto her back and stared up in the ceiling. Her heart was pounding, and all she could focus on was how comfortable she was just lounging in Luke's bed. Her mind flitted back to the dream she had about him a year ago. Had _that_ been a surprise to wake up to! But she felt the same way she did in the dream, just…light.

Footsteps floated up the stairwell, heavy and slow. Luke, making good on his promise of breakfast, most likely. Suddenly, Lorelai's heart was beating a thousand times harder than before. She didn't know yet! He couldn't come up until she knew where her head was in all this. There hadn't been any _warning_, after all. They just _slept together_ and he was already bringing her breakfast in bed! _Too fast, too much, too…it's _Luke_!_

When the door swung open, Lorelai was sure she looked like a deer in headlights when she lifted her head to look at the tray-laden diner owner. He looked so normal, if significantly less grumpy than usual, that it made a flush rise to her cheeks as she recalled how the sheet had slipped down to her stomach.

His eyes honed in on her bare skin immediately, and it took every ounce of her willpower to keep from tugging that sheet up because that stare was so _heated_ and affected her more than she would have cared to admit before last night. As terrified as she was right then, there was definitely something inside her that almost yearned to return that stare.

"Hey," he grunted, tearing his gaze away from tracing the lines of her body.

Lorelai couldn't help the small cough that bubbled out of her mouth before she got her voice to work properly. "Hi," she breathed. "We, uh, we…last night…"

"Yeah," Luke affirmed, but something lurked beneath that single syllable. Amusement? Was he really _enjoying_ how disoriented she was? Laughing at her while he held her breakfast and _coffee_, now that was just very much the Luke she knew.

For some reason, that helped break the panicked state in Lorelai's mind and she could breathe again. Sitting up and finally bringing the sheet up under her armpits, she gestured toward the tray in his hands. "That coffee better be for me."

Breakfast was one of the most bizarre meals she'd experienced. Juggling coffee and a cherry danish and a sheet was no easy feat, especially with the completely flannel-and-denim-covered man hiding his laughter and trying to be respectful whenever she lost the battle with his sheets. But she made no effort to reach for her dress or her jacket or even the spare flannel shirt Luke had draped over the back of his chair.

She should have been running for hills by now. She shouldn't be willingly putting up with the awkwardness, the looks, the nakedness over breakfast. It certainly shouldn't feel so _natural_ to blush when his calloused fingers brushed against any of her exposed skin.

And she _absolutely_ shouldn't have succumbed to Round Two.

**xoxoxo**

Lorelai ducked into the Dragonfly, hoping Michel wouldn't snark about her tardiness. The front desk was blessedly empty, however, so she quickly deposited her purse behind it and made her way to the kitchen. "Sookie!"

"Back here!" A chubby, bandaged hand waved over the shelves near the stove. Lorelai leaned over and peered around the island counter to see Sookie seated on the kitchen floor surrounded by pots and pans.

"Uh, what's going on back here?"

A beaming Sookie shrugged and pointed to the piles. "I've _finally_ nailed down my system from the Independence Inn again," she explained, about to continue until she caught a look at her best friend's face. "But never mind that. What's going on with _you_?"

Somehow Lorelai found herself sitting right beside Sookie on the kitchen floor in the back of the Dragonfly, dishing out _everything_ about Luke. "…And then it happened again this morning," Lorelai admitted, still unsure if she was embarrassed or thrilled.

Sookie waited all of two seconds of shocked silence before breaking out into an ecstatic squeal. If she wasn't sitting down, she'd have been jumping up and down. As it was, her face went pink with excitement. "You and _Luke_!" Glee lit up her eyes. "I am _so_ happy for you, and for Luke! It's about time he got out of that dead-end marriage, and you and he _finally_—Lorelai, I'm so happy for you!"

As Lorelai let herself be pulled into a bone-crushing hug, her stomach dropped and she suddenly felt like throwing up.

Nicole.

How could she have forgotten _Nicole_?

**A/N: Hi, hopefully I won't take as long next time. But I am so excited to be back writing them, because the original fic was **_**so**_** not in character and I'm happy for the chance to fix that. I hope you still enjoyed this, so please review!**


End file.
